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Thursday, 27 February 2014

Blog Tour: Touch of the Goddess by Maria Hammarblad

I received a copy of Touch of the Goddess in exchange for my review.

Stephen wants to escape his ghosts, and to do that he has turned to alcohol. Drunk in the middle of space, the last thing he expects is for a beautiful woman to suddenly appear on the bridge of his ship, saying that he crashed into her. Maria isn't just a beautiful woman though, in fact she is what humans would refer to as a Goddess, and for some reason she can't help but find herself attracted to Stephen, even in his drunken form. The two quickly form a bond, and while travelling around the universe they encounter problems with slavers, and later with a virus that is raging on the planet. All the while, Maria's Goddess and Human sides are battling it out for dominance, particularly when it comes to her feelings for Stephen.

Loved this book, there was a good mix of science fiction, romance and fantasy that left me on the edge of my seat whilst reading. The book is probably suitable for an older YA audience, there is no sex scenes that are described, but sex is mentioned, along with alcoholism and a short look at trafficking. There are also some quite violent scenes, including when Maria got her Goddess on.

I loved Maria as a character. Despite the fact that she was a Goddess, and was way overpowered for being one, she still had some insecurities, particularly related to Stephen and other beautiful women. I thought that that added another dimension to her which made her much more approachable as a character.

There were hints in this book of the idea of destiny, and I'm thinking that that could lead to an interesting arc in the future books, which I am excited to read for the record. Though I didn't think that the idea of fate or destiny was overwhelming like it can be in some books.

This is yet another book that has made me excited for the sequel!

Touch
of the Goddess

The
Goddess's Saga

Book
One

Maria
Hammarblad

Book Description:

Drinking and flying is a
bad combination. Stephan Forks learns this the hard way when he rams another
ship in spite of the vastness of space. A moment later, a strange woman stands
on his bridge, looking around with a frown. She's clearly a figment of his
imagination. Nothing in his colorful past of smuggling and smaller crimes
prepared him for people appearing out of nowhere.

Maria Callaway has
carried more names and appearances than she can keep track of, and she's bored
beyond belief. When she runs into Stephan, he seems to be an amusing pastime.
He's interesting, disorganized, pursued by pirates, and handsome. A little too
handsome, actually. Maybe she should leave?

Neither of them can
foresee the chain of events set in action from their meeting. Adventure and
danger go hand in hand during the upcoming days, and the collision resonates
not only through their own lives, but changes the destiny of the world as they
know it.

When genetically
engineered Stephan Forks and demigoddess Maria Callaway attempt to settle down
on a rural world, the result isn't entirely positive for the locals. Despite
good intentions, the two wreck havoc with everything they do.

Their friend Leila
offers them to tag along for a job, and leaving the planet seems like a good
idea. An adventure could be fun, and how hard can it be to rescue a stranded
artificial intelligence?

The journey turns out to
be more than they bargained for, and Maria finds herself lone protector of the
universe. Deprived of her friends and family she only has Stephan to lean on,
and her human companion might not be up for the challenge.

Stephan Forks should be
dead. When he opens his eyes to an endless desert, he suspects he might have
ended up in hell. It doesn't seem fair after staving off a threat that could
have eradicated the universe, but life isn't fair.

His girlfriend,
demigoddess Maria Callaway, is blissfully unconscious and shows no signs of
waking up. At least she's there, and her presence indicates he might be alive
after all.

The situation is
desperate, and does not get better from discovering they're trapped on a world
outside the regular universe. A world lacking the basic means of survival, but
rich in heat and sand, battered by a relentless sun. Saving himself and Maria
will require him to face impossible odds as well as ghosts from the past.

Born in Sweden in the early 1970's,
Maria showed a large interest for books at an early age. Even before she was
able to read or write, she made her mom staple papers together into booklets
she filled with drawings of suns and planets. She proudly declared them,
"The Sun Book." They were all about the sun. She also claimed, to her
mother's horror, that her being on Earth was a big mistake and that her alien
family would come and bring her home at any moment. This never happened, but
both the interest in space and the passion for bookmaking stayed with her.

As an adult Maria's creativity got
an outlet through playing bass in a number of rock bands, and through writing
technical manuals and making web pages for various companies and organizations.
She did write drafts for a few novels, but the storytelling muse was mostly
satisfied through role playing online on Myspace. It was here, while writing
stories together with people from around the globe, she stumbled onto Mike.
They started talking out of character, and she moved over to Florida to him
late 2008. Today the two are married and live in the Tampa Bay area with three
rescue dogs.